Gerard Tenque

Gerard Tenque (1040-3 September 1120) was the Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller from 1099 to 1120, preceding Raymond du Puy.

Biography
Gerard Tenque was born in 1040, and he came to the Holy Land to serve at the abbey of St. Mary of the Latins, coming from Martigues, Provence. At the time of the First Crusade, he was one of the few Christians allowed in Jerusalem by the Fatimid Caliphate so that he could tend to the sick in the hospital. Gerard hid bread in his cloak to feed the besieging crusader army during the Fall of Jerusalem in 1099, and when the Muslims attempted to catch him, he had stones in his cloak. After the fall of Jerusalem, he split from the Benedictine Order and formed a group of knights that focused on helping the sick and poor: the Knights Hospitaller. Under Gerard, the Hospitallers were given lands in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and they later became a military order.